Belarus has suspended deliveries of light petroleum products, gasoline and diesel fuel to Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries. This was announced on Tuesday, April 23, by the Deputy Director General of the Belarusian Oil Company (BNK) Sergey Grib. According to him, the reason for such a decision was the deterioration of the quality of oil supplied from Russia, BelTA informs.

“The decline in exports is happening in order to ensure a fully domestic market in full,” said Sergey Grib.

On April 19, representatives of the Belneftekhim concern reported an elevated level of organic chlorides in Russian energy. The source of pollution was found on the Samara – Unecha section of the southern direction of the Druzhba pipeline. As explained in the company, the decline in the quality of the supplied hydrocarbons causes disruptions in the operation of the Belarusian refineries.

“Oil refining of this quality can lead to a violation of the technological modes of the refinery. Currently, operational measures are being taken to minimize the consequences of refining oil that does not meet the standard, and to provide the domestic market with petroleum products. The concern's specialists estimate the level of losses due to the deterioration in the quality of oil, ”BelTA quotes the press secretary of Belneftekhim, Marina Kostyuchenko.

In addition, as Sergei Grib stressed, at the moment the Belarusian side is also trying to prevent sanctions from its energy partners after stopping the export of petroleum products.

In Russia, the situation responded immediately. According to the Ministry of Energy, the pollution of the oil supplied to Belarus is of a technical nature, and the situation is under the constant supervision of the Ministry. As expected, the quality of energy in the pipeline "Friendship" will be fully normalized in the near future, reports RIA Novosti.

On April 23, the management of Belneftekhim meets with representatives of Transneft PJSC to discuss the emerging problem and ways to eliminate its consequences. At the same time, as stated by the deputy chairman of the Belarusian concern Vladimir Sizov, the parties have already agreed to increase pumping of Russian oil of the required quality along the northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline.

“At our appeal to Transneft with a request to render assistance (on the issue of increasing oil pumping along the northern branch. - RT ), a reaction followed, we are grateful to our Russian colleagues. I am awaiting an official decision from day to day, ”Tass quotes Sizov.

As the general director of the company Gomeltransneft Druzhba Oleg Borisenko stated in an interview with the TV channel “Belarus 1”, the quality of oil supplied from Russia has already begun to gradually improve.

It is expected that on this background the incident will not lead to the deterioration of the Russian-Belarusian relations in the energy, economy or politics. This was stated in a conversation with RT by the head of the BCS Broker investment department Narek Avakian.

Deliveries through other countries

Sergei Grib said that by the end of 2019, Belarus expects to start importing oil, alternative to Russia, through the ports of the Baltic States and Ukraine. According to him, today Belarusian refineries can process 18 grades of oil from different countries.

However, analysts surveyed by RT believe that statements by representatives of Belarus are more political in nature and will not affect sales of Russian oil. So, according to analysts, Minsk is trying to solicit more favorable terms of trade from Moscow to maintain the profitability of its refineries.

“The situation will not seriously affect Russian exports. Belarus is interested in it, but would like to increase revenues from pumping, or to maintain the same prices for oil purchased for its own needs. At the moment, the price of energy is growing due to the tax maneuver introduced in Russia, ”said Dmitry Alexandrov, chief strategist of UNIVER Capital, in an interview with RT.

The expert stressed that oil coming from alternative sources through the Baltic States or Ukraine would be much more expensive for Belarus. According to Aleksandrov, now Minsk receives oil from Russia via the shortest route and relatively favorable price, since both countries are members of the Customs Union.

“Deliveries from the Baltic States or through Ukraine suggest that oil is first supplied to these countries by tanker fleet, and then transshipment takes place at the ports, supplied to pipelines and then pumped to Belarusian refineries. This makes the refining of such oil in Belarus with subsequent re-export economically unattractive, especially when compared with the processing of Russian oil produced under special conditions within a single customs space, ”explained Aleksandrov.

The refining of expensive oil by Belarus will eventually lead to an increase in the cost of fuel produced, which may cause a decrease in demand for Belarusian fuel from the main buyers - the UK, the Netherlands and Ukraine. This was told in an interview with RT by an expert from the Academy of Financial and Investment Management Gennady Nikolaev. According to him, since the beginning of the year, supplies of Belarusian fuel to European countries have decreased by 17–30%, and only Kiev continues to buy the same volumes.

“In this case, the only hope of Minsk will be Ukraine, which is in dire need of fuel and is ready to purchase it for a higher price than other counterparties, and the increased purchase price will be offset by the low cost of transportation. A more likely scenario is an increase in purchases of Russian raw materials in order to “capture” the Ukrainian market, with which Russia recently stopped working, ”concluded Nikolayev.